The 1907 German football championship was the fifth season in which teams competed for the national championship title. Six teams qualified to reach the final stages of the competition, and the winners were Freiburger FC, defeating Viktoria 89 Berlin 3–1 in the final.[1]

For Freiburger FC it was the sole appearance in the German championship final. Viktoria 89 Berlin made its first of four final appearances in 1907, going on to win the 1908 and 1911 championships as well as losing the 1909 final in between.[2][3][4]

1.
Freiburger FC
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Freiburger FC is a German association football club based in Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg. Freiburger FC was a founding Clubs of the DFB in 1900, founded in 1897, this team was for many decades the dominant club in the city. Their early successes included a South German title in their second season and they were also semi-finalists of the Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva, one of the very first international football competitions in the world, in 1908. Those wins would prove to be the apex of their achievement, for while they continued to field respectable sides, in 1916, the club managed to win the Südkreis-Liga but the competition was heavily affected by the war and very localised. The club belonged to, at first, the tier-one Kreisliga Südwest and they played mid-table in the Gauliga Baden through the 30s, and after World War II, in the 2nd Oberliga Süd. The FFC slipped to that level for three seasons in 1974–77 before playing their way back to 2. Bundesliga, however the team could not draw support and suffered from poor attendance throughout the following five-year period spent in the 2nd division. When they were relegated to Amateur Oberliga Baden-Württemberg in 1982, only a saving campaign by fans kept the club out of bankruptcy, in the meantime SC Freiburg was playing exciting football and was solidly entrenched in the 2. Bundesliga on their way to the top flight. Since 1994, the FFC played in the Verbandsliga Südbaden, interrupted by the 1999–2000 season, in 2009, the clubs decline continued with a more permanent drop to the Landesliga. After finishing third in its first two attempts at promoten the club second in the Landesliga in 2011–12 and qualified for the promotion round to the Verbandsliga. After a 2–2 draw at FC Radolfzell the club achieved promotion by defeating SC Offenburg 5–1, the clubs honours, Recent managers of the club, The recent season-by-season performance of the club, With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier, the club has strong connections to English football club Guildford City F. C. with Guildford being a sister city of Freiburg, and publishes news and results of the later club on its website. Official website Abseits Guide to German Soccer Freiburger FC profile at Weltfussball. de Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables

2.
BFC Viktoria 1889
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This article is about a now-defunct German football club. For the successor club, see FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin, Berliner Fußball-Club Viktoria 1889 was a German sports club based in the Tempelhof district of Berlin. Football, rugby, and cricket came to continental Europe in the late 19th century, Viktoria was the oldest club in Germany that had both teams playing football and cricket. It was one of the members of the German Football Association in 1900. One of Berlins earliest sides, the club was established on 6 June 1889 as Berliner Thorball- und Fußballclub Viktoria von 1889 and they enjoyed almost immediate success, claiming the city championship in five consecutive seasons from 1893 to 1897. Viktoria then went on to become a presence on the stage appearing in the countrys championship final three years in a row from 1907 to 1909, and laying claim to the German title in 1908. The side captured a national title in 1911 and continued to enjoy success in city league play until the end of World War I. They earned uneven results in early 1920s before settling firmly into to the Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg, the team captured the division title that year and advanced to the national playoffs, going out 1,2 to 1. Like most other organizations in Germany, including sports and football clubs, the club was re-established in late 1945 as SG Tempelhof and re-claimed the name BFC Viktoria 89 Berlin on 12 July 1947. They played from the late 40s, through the 50s, and into the early 60s in the Oberliga Berlin, Viktoria claimed the division championship in 1955 and 1956, but were unable to advance in the national playoff rounds in either year. The Oberliga Berlin was relatively weak and generally performed poorly against top-flight teams from other divisions in western Germany. When the Bundesliga, Germanys new professional league, was formed in 1963, Viktoria survived and later played in the fifth tier NOFV-Oberliga Nord. In 2013 the club merged with Lichterfelder FC to form a new club, Viktoria had a long cricket tradition and had been prominent in the growth and development of the game both in Germany and Europe. The club won its last city title in 2003 and advanced as far as the round of the national championship in 2005. Viktorias cricketers played in the Cricket Bundesliga while a second side played in the 2, the club also fielded a team in the Womens Cricket Bundesliga. Thorball or Torball was a German word in use in the 1890s, several early clubs playing the new English games of football, rugby, and cricket incorporated it into their name. The term never caught on and did not enter common usage. Today torball may be used to refer to a form of football played by the blind or vision-impaired, in 1894, the Deutscher Fußball- und Cricketbund, a predecessor of the German Football Association, organized a national final

3.
SV Blitz Breslau
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SV Blitz Breslau was a German football club playing in Breslau, Lower Silesia in what was then part of Germany but is today Wrocław, Poland. The club was established on 1 April 1897 by former members of the cycling club Radverein Blitz Breslau, SVB was one of the founding members of the German Football Association established in Leipzig in 1900. A split of the led to the formation of Sport Club Schlesien Breslau on 26 August 1901. Subsequent appearances in the national level playoffs ended with quarter final losses, what remained of parent club SV Blitz Breslau adopted the name Verein für Rasenspiel 1897 Breslau on 2 May 1907 and then went on to enjoy their own successes. They followed SC as three time VBBB champions from 1908–1910 and as Südostdeutscher titlists in 1908 and 1910, VfR also went out in the quarter finals in their two national level appearances. Several members of SC left the club in 1919 to create a department within Turnverein Vorwärts Breslau. This club later merged with 1911 Krietern to form FV Rapide Breslau, SC and Rapid were united in 1924 to form Schlesien 01 Rapid Breslau. By 1925 this club was again playing simply as SC Schlesien Breslau, in 1934 these threads were all brought together when VfR and SC were re-united as VfR Schlesien 1897 Breslau. The club was lost in 1945 in the aftermath of World War II, today, a leading Polish football and basketball club bears the name Śląsk Wrocław, the Polish-language equivalent to Schlesien Breslau. Founded in 1946, it is not related to the earlier German football club

4.
South Eastern German football championship
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The competition was disbanded in 1933. German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations and these often pre-dated the national German championship. With the inception of the latter in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments, regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, others, such as the Baltic championship, completely disappeared, especially if the territories they were held in were no longer part of Germany. With the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945, ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, regional championships ceased altogether. With the defeat of the German Empire in 1918 and the formation of a Republic, for most of the Prussian provinces, this only meant that the Kingdom was replaced with the Free State of Prussia. A small strip along the border remained with Germany and became the border province Posen-West Prussia, no results beyond the final are known. The winner of this first competition took part in the fourth edition of the national German championship. Clubs from the south east of Germany had already taken part in the edition of the competition. No club from the south east ever reached the German championship final, to qualify for the South Eastern German championship, a club had to take out the title in its regional competition or league. As more football clubs were formed in Germany, the number of leagues increased, originally, from 1907, four regional champions took part from the following regions, Breslau Niederlausitz Niederschlesien Oberschlesien In 1910, Posen was added as a fifth region. In 1911, the Oberlausitz champions joined, the second edition was played out in the knockout modus again, but now involving four clubs, a system that remained in place until 1910, when the number of clubs was enlarged to six. In its last pre-First World War season,1914, the competition was enlarged to seven clubs, in 1914-15, football in Germany had come to an almost complete halt. As it became clear, that the war would last longer than anticipated, in most regions of Germany, like the South, the championships were restarted from 1915 onwards but in the South East, this was not so. A south eastern championship was not played again until 1920, the 1920 championship resumed in the same fashion as the last one had finished in 1914, seven clubs in a knockout competition. The champions, Sportfreunde Breslau, achieved the greatest success of any south eastern club so far in the title games. In 1921, the competition was staged with six clubs. Clubs from Posen, now Poznań, did not enter the championship anymore as the city had become part of Poland, play was further disrupted in 1922

5.
Brandenburg football championship
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The Brandenburg football championship was the highest association football competition in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg, including Berlin, established in 1898. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power, German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations, which carried out their own championship, which often pre-dated the national German championship. With the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it, at the end of the Second World War, some resumed, now in league format. Others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more, with the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945. Ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether, the Prussian province of Brandenburg was largely identical to what is now the federal state of Brandenburg, except for the areas east of the Oder-Neisse line, which are now part of Poland. Berlin was separated politically from the province in 1881 and significantly enlarged in size through the Greater Berlin Act of 1920, clubs from city of Berlin were part of, and indeed, dominated the Brandenburg football championship. The outcome of the First World War and change of Prussia to a Free State had little influence on the competition as, unlike other regions of Germany, Brandenburg did not lose any territory. In the late 1890s, a number of football associations were formed in the Berlin and Brandenburg region. Separate workers and faith-based competitions active in Berlin were also absorbed into the new leagues, the Verband Deutscher Ballspielvereine, a Berlin-based association of German football clubs was formed on 11 September 1897. In May 1902, it was renamed as the Verband Berliner Ballspielvereine to reflect its geographical alignment, in April 1911, the two associations merged to form the Verband Brandenburgischer Ballspielvereine. In 1933, after the rise of the Nazis to power, the Brandenburg football championship was first played in 1898, when eight clubs competed in a league format for it. The number of games played by each team varied greatly but the top four clubs each played nine games with the top three ending up on equal points. To determine the champion, a two leg decider was played between Britannia Berlin and BFC Preussen with the former winning both games and earning its first league title. In its second edition, only six clubs participated, all from the city of Berlin, because of the top two teams finishing on equal points, a final had to be played once more, this time BFC Preussen coming out the winner. Expanded to nine clubs for 1900, the champion won the Brandenburg title outright at this edition. The finals were held in a two leg format but because each team won one game, a match had to be held to decide the winner. For 1903, the returned to a single division format. Additionally, the league received some competition with the March football championship being introduced, organised by the rival Märkischer Fußball-Bund

6.
1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig
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The team won the 2015-16 NOFV-Oberliga Süd and qualified for the 2016–17 Regionalliga Nordost, where it will face former East German champions FC Carl Zeiss Jena and BFC Dynamo. The club was formed on 26 May 1896 out of the department of gymnastics club Allgemeine Turnverein 1845 Leipzig. The union lasted until 2 May 1900 when the two went their separate ways again. VfB Leipzig was one of the original eighty-six teams that came together in the city in 1900 to form the German Football Association and they were immediately successful at their chosen sport and made their way to the first German national championship final held in 1903. Their opponents were DFC Prag, an ethnically German side from Prague, the DFB had invited German clubs of this sort from other countries in order to boost numbers in their new national association. DFC Prag had made their way to the final under circumstances that had allowed them to playing a single playoff game. Arriving in Hamburg for the match, the heavily favoured Pragers took themselves off on a pub crawl the night before the contest. The contest against was delayed half an hour as officials scrambled to find a football that was in good condition, the host, FC93 Altona Hamburg, provided a new ball and eleven minutes in, DFC Prag scored the first goal. Leipzig played themselves into another final appearance in 1904, but the match was never contested, a protest by FV Karlsruhe over their disputed semi-final with Britannia Berlin was never resolved and the DFB called off the final only hours before its scheduled start. There would be no champion that year, the following season Leipzig found themselves unable to cover the expense of travelling to participate in their scheduled first round playoff match and so were eliminated from that years competition. They did, however, go on to raise the Viktoria again in 1906 and 1913, in the period leading up to World War II, VfB was unable to repeat their early success. After the re-organization of German football leagues under the Third Reich in 1933, while they earned good results within their own division, they were unable to advance in the playoff rounds. In 1937, they captured the Tschammerpokal, known today as the German Cup, in a match against FC Schalke 04, the dominant side of the era. The club, like most other organizations in Germany, including sports, club members reconstituted the team in 1946 as SG Probstheida under the auspices of the occupying Soviets. In 1963 Leipzigs two most important clubs – SC Rotation and SC Lokomotive Leipzig – were put together resulting in two new sides being founded – SC Leipzig and BSG Chemie Leipzig. East German football went through a general re-organization in 1965, creating football clubs as centres of high-level football, FC Lokomotive Leipzig, while rivals Chemie Leipzig continued as a Betriebssportgemeinschaft, or a company team. Lok earned a clutch of East German Cups with victories in 1976,1981,1986 and 1987 against failed appearances in the Cup final in 1970,1973 and 1977. They also won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1966 and made an appearance in the 1987 final of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup falling 0,1 to Johan Cruijffs Ajax Amsterdam after a Marco van Basten goal

7.
Central German football championship
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The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power. German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations, which carried out their own championship, with the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it but these regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more. With the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945, ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether. The number of states in the Thuringia region formed the new state of that name, with the exception of Coburg. In late 1900, the Verband Mitteldeutscher Ballspiel Vereine followed, three month later, the Verband Dresdner Ballspiel-Vereine was formed in Dresden, in August 1903, the Verband Chemnitzer Ballspielvereine was formed in Chemnitz and, last, the Verband Plauener Ballspielvereine came into existence in Plauen. In 1933, all of those were disbanded by the Nazis, the Central German football championship was first played in 1902, but little is known about the first year other than the final. The championship was staged as a competition with a one-leg final at the end. Regional champions were determined to establish who the clubs for the Central German championship were. In 1903, in the year of the competition, a German football championship was established. The team, VfB Leipzig achieved distinction by becoming the first German champions, defeating DFC Prag 7-2 in the final and establishing Central Germany as an early power house of German football. VfB became the dominant side in the pre-First World War era of the competition, also winning another German title in 1906 and 1913 and making a losing appearance in the 1911 and 1914 final. No other club from Central Germany enjoyed a form of success. From 1903, three teams took part in the championship, the champions of the Leipzig, Dresden and Magdeburg region and this was expanded to four teams when the champion of the Chemnitz area joined the Central German championship. From 1908, seven teams competed in the finals, making it necessary to establish a quarter-final round. In 1910, the competition was expanded to nine teams, the year after to twelve, in its last pre-war season,1914,21 clubs participated, making a qualifying round necessary. In 1913, a different system was used, splitting the region in two according to their playing strength. The winners of the two met in a final, which was predictably won by the team from the stronger group

8.
SC Victoria Hamburg
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SC Victoria Hamburg is a German association football club from the city of Hamburg. The football team is part of a sports club that has departments for badminton, handball, hockey, athletics, tennis, table tennis, gymnastics, baseball. It was one of the members of the DFB at Leipzig in 1901. Victoria joined the HAFV a year later, capturing the title in 1905. The team won two consecutive north German championships in 1907 and 1908 and advanced as far as the quarterfinals in national championship play in both seasons, the club was renamed SC Victoria Hamburg on 10 June 1908. In 1933 German football was reorganized under the Third Reich into sixteen first division Gauligen, the team remained in the top flight until the end of World War II. After the war occupying Allied authorities banned all organizations in Germany, including sports, Victoria was soon re-established and played the 1945 and 1946 seasons in the Stadtliga Hamburg. They were one of four Hamburg sides that joined the newly formed Oberliga Nord for the 1947–48 season where they earned a last place result and were relegated to second tier play. They made brief re-appearances in the top flight Oberliga in 1951–52 and they quickly returned to third division play and would compete at that level for the next eight seasons. In 1977 the club was sent down to the Landesliga Hamburg, in 1987 several club members left to form Hamburger Club Deportivo Espanol. League re-organization led to the Verbandeliga becoming a fifth division circuit in 1994, Victoria won promotion to the Oberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein for a single season but immediately slipped back. In 2007, the won the Hamburg city cup final by defeating VfL93 Hamburg 1,0. This earned Victoria a place in the DFB Cup 2007-08 competition, in the 2010–11 season they took part in the DFB-Pokal once again and produced a shock result by putting 2. Bundesliga club Rot-Weiß Oberhausen out of the competition in the first round with a 1–0 win, before being defeated 1–3 by VfL Wolfsburg in second round. They were eliminated again in first round in the 2012–13 season. The club was relegated from the Regionalliga in 2014 and now plays in the Oberliga Hamburg again, at the end of season 2015-16 Victoria placed the third rank. The ground, the Victoria-Stadion Hoheluft, is located next to the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, the stadium currently has a capacity of 17,000. The record attendance for the ground was 37,000 during the final of the British Zone Championship in which Hamburger SV beat FC St. Pauli 6–1, altonaer FC von 1893 also played there during the 2008–09 season

9.
Northern German football championship
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The regional associations, including the NFV, were dissolved in 1933 and the competition was not held again until 1946. German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations and these often pre-dated the national German championship. With the inception of the latter in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments, regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, in the North, a championship had been started in the summer of 1946 but it had to be stopped during the quarter-finals when the British Military Government intervened. Subsequently, the Oberliga Nord was established in 1947, others, such as the Baltic championship, completely disappeared because the territories they were held in were no longer part of Germany. With the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945 in the French Zone, ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, regional championships ceased altogether. For the two Prussian provinces, this meant that the Kingdom was replaced with the Free State of Prussia. The very first federation in the North, inaugurated in 1894, incorporated clubs from Hamburg as well as Altona, the Northern German football championship was first contested in 1906 and won by Victoria Hamburg. Six clubs had qualified and the stages were held as a knock-out competition with a one-off final at the end. The winner of this first competition took part in the fourth edition of the national German championship. Northern German clubs had taken part in each of the previous three national championships. To qualify for the Northern German championship, a club had to take out the title in its local or district competition or league, the second edition was played out in the same modus but now with eight clubs, a system that remained in place for the following seasons. The northern champions experienced some first national success in 1910, when Holstein Kiel reached the German final, in 1912, the Holstein returned to the national final once more and became the first northern club to win it, this time beating Karlsruher FV 1-0. In its last pre-First World War season,1914, the became a regional league. In 1914-15, football in Germany had come to an almost complete halt, as it became clear, that the war would last longer than anticipated, local competitions restarted in 1915. In most regions of Germany, like the South, the championships were restarted from 1915 onwards but in the North, a northern championship was played in 1916 again, but only for selections, not clubs. In 1917, a championship was played once more but in 1918. The Northern German championship resumed in 1919, as a competition, with eleven clubs

10.
Western German football championship
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The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power. It is not to be confused with the German championship in what was referred to as West Germany from 1949 to 1990. German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations, which carried out their own championship, with the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it but these regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more. With the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945, ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether. For the two Prussian provinces, this meant that the Kingdom was replaced with the Free State of Prussia. On 23 October 1898, the Rheinischer Spielverband was formed, initially without the clubs from the region around Kassel, in 1900, the Rheinisch-Westfälischen Spielverband was formed, which, in 1907, was renamed Westdeutscher Spielverband. The Western German football championship was first contested in 1903 and won by the Cölner FC1899 and it consisted of three clubs, one each from Essen, Cologne and Mönchengladbach, then spelled München-Gladbach, and was determined in a group stage with home-and-away games. The winner of this first competition did not take part in the first edition of the national German championship, to qualify for the Western German championship, a club had to take out the title in its regional competition or league. As more football clubs were formed in Germany, the number of leagues increased, the second edition was played out in the same modus and its champion was permitted to enter the national finals for the first time. A round of deciders was necessary to determine the Western champion as all three sat on equal points. In 1906, the championship was expanded to four clubs with a once more being necessary to determine the champion. In 1907, the system to determine the Western champion was altered to a knockout modus with six clubs participating, increased to seven for the following year and eight in 1909. The Duisburger SV in turn was a powerhouse of western football. The last pre-First World War season,1914, saw a return to the finals being played as a league with home-and-away games, five clubs were meant to compete but Düsseldorfer SV was deemed to have been determined to late as local champions and it was barred from participating. In 1914-15, football in Germany had come to an almost complete halt, as it became clear, that the war would last longer than anticipated, local competitions restarted in 1915. In most regions of Germany, like the South, the championships were restarted from 1915 onwards but in the West, a Western German Championship was not played again until 1920. As a consequence of the lost war, a strip of land along the German - Belgian border was awarded to the later, with the cities of Eupen and these were the only territorial changes within the area of the Western championship

11.
Southern German football championship
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The Southern German football championship was the highest association football competition in the South of Germany, established in 1898. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power, German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations which carried out their own championship, which often pre-dated the national German championship. With the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it, at the end of the Second World War, some resumed, now in league format. Others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more, with the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945. Ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether, the Süddeutsche Fußball-Verband, the Southern German Football Association was formed in Karlsruhe on 17 October 1897, three years before the German Football Association was formed. It originally was named Verband Süddeutscher Fußball-Vereine, one of the leading figures and driving force in the Southern German football was Walther Bensemann, founder of the kicker sportmagazin, a position he retained until the Nazis rise to power. The other driving force behind football in the south of Germany was Friedrich William Nohe, the association was formed by eight clubs, those being, Karlsruher FV Phönix Karlsruhe Fidelitas Karlsruhe 1. FC Pforzheim FC Heilbronn FG96 Mannheim FC Hanau 93 Germania 94 Frankfurt The SFV originally covered a larger area. With the interception of the German football championship in 1903, the Southern German championship functioned as a tournament for it. Nevertheless, it enjoyed a high value of status. The competition went through a number of changes throughout its live time, from this season onwards, the competition also grew in size. Previously, only a few selected clubs from cities like Frankfurt, Mannheim and Karlsruhe had taken part, in its early years, competition was very localised and patchy, with a handful of clubs dominating play. After the end of the First World War, the region of Alsace-Lorraine once more part of France. The semi-final winners then entered the Southern German final, the number of leagues remained the same for the 1922 edition but now league winner and runners-up both qualified for a knock-out round to determine the champion. In 1923, the league winners again were the only once qualified and the ten teams played a round first. After the 1923 season, the German league system was reorganised and streamlined, only the champion would then move on to the German championship. In the following season, only the five winners would compete for the southern title. For the 1926 edition, the modus remained unchanged apart from the Southern German cup winner also entering the finals tournament, in 1927, the modus again remained unchanged

12.
Hamburg
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Hamburg, officially Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, is the second largest city in Germany and the eighth largest city in the European Union. It is the second smallest German state by area and its population is over 1.7 million people, and the wider Hamburg Metropolitan Region covers more than 5.1 million inhabitants. The city is situated on the river Elbe, the official long name reflects Hamburgs history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, a city-state, and one of the 16 states of Germany. Before the 1871 Unification of Germany, it was a sovereign state. Prior to the changes in 1919, the civic republic was ruled by a class of hereditary grand burghers or Hanseaten. Though repeatedly destroyed by the Great Fire of Hamburg, the floods and military conflicts including WW2 bombing raids, the city managed to recover and emerge wealthier after each catastrophe. On the river Elbe, Hamburg is a port and a global service, media, logistics and industrial hub, with headquarters and facilities of Airbus, Blohm + Voss, Aurubis, Beiersdorf. The radio and television broadcaster NDR, Europes largest printing and publishing firm Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg has been an important financial centre for centuries, and is the seat of Germanys oldest stock exchange and the worlds second oldest bank, Berenberg Bank. The city is a fast expanding tourist destination for domestic and international visitors. It ranked 16th in the world for livability in 2015, the ensemble Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2015. Hamburg is a major European science, research and education hub with several universities and institutes and its creative industries and major cultural venues include the renowned Elbphilharmonie and Laeisz concert halls, various art venues, music producers and artists. It is regarded as a haven for artists, gave birth to movements like Hamburger Schule. Hamburg is also known for theatres and a variety of musical shows. St. Paulis Reeperbahn is among the best known European entertainment districts, Hamburg is on the southern point of the Jutland Peninsula, between Continental Europe to the south and Scandinavia to the north, with the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the north-east. It is on the River Elbe at its confluence with the Alster, the city centre is around the Binnenalster and Außenalster, both formed by damming the River Alster to create lakes. The island of Neuwerk and two neighbouring islands Scharhörn and Nigehörn, in the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park, are also part of Hamburg. The neighbourhoods of Neuenfelde, Cranz, Francop and Finkenwerder are part of the Altes Land region, neugraben-Fischbek has Hamburgs highest elevation, the Hasselbrack at 116.2 metres AMSL. Hamburg has a climate, influenced by its proximity to the coast

13.
Nuremberg
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Nuremberg is a city on the river Pegnitz and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia, about 170 kilometres north of Munich. It is the second-largest city in Bavaria, and the largest in Franconia, the population as of February 2015, is 517,498, which makes it Germanys fourteenth-largest city. The urban area also includes Fürth, Erlangen and Schwabach with a population of 763,854. The European Metropolitan Area Nuremberg has ca.3.5 million inhabitants, Nuremberg was, according to the first documentary mention of the city in 1050, the location of an Imperial castle between the East Franks and the Bavarian March of the Nordgau. From 1050 to 1571, the city expanded and rose dramatically in importance due to its location on key trade routes, Nuremberg is often referred to as having been the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire, particularly because Imperial Diet and courts met at Nuremberg Castle. The Diets of Nuremberg were an important part of the structure of the empire. The increasing demand of the court and the increasing importance of the city attracted increased trade. Nuremberg soon became, with Augsburg, one of the two great trade centers on the route from Italy to Northern Europe. In 1298, the Jews of the town were accused of having desecrated the host, behind the massacre of 1298 was also the desire to combine the northern and southern parts of the city, which were divided by the Pegnitz. The Jews of the German lands suffered many massacres during the plague years, in 1349, Nurembergs Jews were subjected to a pogrom. They were burned at the stake or expelled, and a marketplace was built over the former Jewish quarter, the plague returned to the city in 1405,1435,1437,1482,1494,1520 and 1534. Charles was the patron of the Frauenkirche, built between 1352 and 1362, where the Imperial court worshipped during its stays in Nuremberg. Charles IV conferred upon the city the right to conclude alliances independently, frequent fights took place with the burgraves without, however, inflicting lasting damage upon the city. Through these and other acquisitions the city accumulated considerable territory, the Hussite Wars, recurrence of the Black Death in 1437, and the First Margrave War led to a severe fall in population in the mid-15th century. During the Middle Ages, Nurembergs literary culture was rich, varied, the cultural flowering of Nuremberg, in the 15th and 16th centuries, made it the centre of the German Renaissance. In 1525, Nuremberg accepted the Protestant Reformation, and in 1532, during the 1552 revolution against Charles V, Nuremberg tried to purchase its neutrality, but the city was attacked without a declaration of war and was forced into a disadvantageous peace. The state of affairs in the early 16th century, increased trade routes elsewhere, frequent quartering of Imperial, Swedish and League soldiers, the financial costs of the war and the cessation of trade caused irreparable damage to the city and a near-halving of the population. In 1632, the city, occupied by the forces of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, was besieged by the army of Imperial general Albrecht von Wallenstein, the city declined after the war and recovered its importance only in the 19th century, when it grew as an industrial centre

14.
Penalty kick (association football)
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A penalty kick is a method of restarting play in association football, taken from 11 metres out from the goal, on the penalty mark. Penalty kicks are performed during normal play and they are awarded when a foul that is punishable by a direct free kick is committed within the offending players own penalty area. Similar kicks are made in a penalty shootout in some tournaments to determine which team is victorious after a drawn match, in practice, penalties are converted to goals more often than not, even against world class goalkeepers. This means that penalty awards are often decisive, especially in low-scoring games, the referee gives the ball to the non-offending team. The goalkeeper must stand on the line between the post until the ball is kicked. Lateral movement is allowed, but the keeper is not permitted to come off the goal line by stepping or lunging forward until the ball is in play. When the goalkeeper indicates to the referee that they are ready, once the shooter has started their approach to the ball, they are not permitted to interrupt it. The ball must be stationary before the kick, and must be struck forwards, violation of these rules will result in a re-kick. After the penalty is taken properly, the ball may be played by any player except the one who executed the penalty kick. The kicker may not play the ball again until it has touched or played by another player on either team. For penalties taken near the end of time, play may be extended so that the penalty kick may be taken. A two-man penalty, or tap penalty, occurs when the penalty-taker, instead of shooting for goal, taps the ball slightly forward so that a team-mate can run on to it and shoot. The team-mate, like all other players, must be at least ten yards from the penalty mark when the ball is initially kicked and this strategy depends on the element of surprise, so that the team-mate can reach the ball ahead of any defenders. There is no requirement for the penalty taker to shoot for goal, the first recorded tap penalty was taken by Jimmy McIlroy and Danny Blanchflower of Northern Ireland against Portugal on 1 May 1957. Another was taken by Rik Coppens and André Piters in the World Cup Qualifying match Belgium v Iceland on 5 June 1957, arsenal players Thierry Henry and Robert Pirès failed in an attempt at a similar penalty in 2005, during a Premier League match against Manchester City at Highbury. Lionel Messi tapped a penalty for Luis Suárez as Suárez completed his hat-trick on 14 February 2016 against league opponents Celta De Vigo, in the case of a player repeatedly infringing the laws during the penalty kick, the referee may caution the player for persistent infringement. Note that all offences that occur before kick may be dealt with in this manner, as with a direct free kick, the kicker may not touch the ball a second time, until another player has touched the ball. Another example of an infringement is when a player will run up, stop directly at the ball and this gives the goalkeeper no chance at saving it, and the result of this would be a free kick for the opposing team

15.
Frankenthal
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Frankenthal is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772, in 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, after the founder, as the Erkenbertruine — still stand today in the town centre. In the second half of the 16th century, people from the Netherlands, persecuted for their religious beliefs and they were industrious and artistic and brought economic prosperity to the town. Some of them were important carpet weavers, jewellers and artists whose Frankenthaler Malerschule acquired some fame, in 1577 the settlement was raised to the status of a town by the Count Palatine Johann Casimir. In 1600 Frankenthal was converted to a fortress, in 1621 it was besieged by the Spanish during the Thirty Years War, and then successively occupied by troops of the opposing sides. Trade and industry were ruined and the town was not reconstructed until 1682, in 1689 the town was burnt to the ground by French troops in the War of the Grand Alliance. The town did not fully recover from this for more than fifty years, however, in 1750, under the rule of the Elector Charles Theodore, Frankenthal was established as a centre of industry. Numerous factories were opened and mulberry trees were planted for silk production, in 1755 the famous Frankenthal porcelain factory was opened, which remained in production until 1800. In 1797 the town came under French occupation during the French Revolutionary Wars and it passed into the rule of Bavaria in 1816. The beginning of modern industrialisation is dated from 1859, in 1938 the Jewish synagogue, built in 1884, was burnt to the ground during the Kristallnacht. In 1943 during a raid the centre of the town was almost completely destroyed. In 1945, at the end of World War II, its industries in ruins, it was occupied first by the Americans, from 1946 Frankenthal has been part of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Today the town is again the site of some medium-sized industries,1850,4.7671900,16.8992000, around 50.0002015,48

16.
Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri

17.
German Empire
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The German Empire was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. The German Empire consisted of 26 constituent territories, with most being ruled by royal families and this included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia became one of kingdoms in the new realm, it contained most of its population and territory. Its influence also helped define modern German culture, after 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron, chemicals, and railways. In 1871, it had a population of 41 million people, and by 1913, a heavily rural collection of states in 1815, now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, technological, Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly growing rail network, the worlds strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britains Royal Navy, after the removal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II, the Empire embarked on a bellicose new course that ultimately led to World War I. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, the German Empire had two allies, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, however, left the once the First World War started in August 1914. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in autumn 1914 failed, the Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. Germany was repeatedly forced to send troops to bolster Austria and Turkey on other fronts, however, Germany had great success on the Eastern Front, it occupied large Eastern territories following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was designed to strangle the British, it failed, but the declaration—along with the Zimmermann Telegram—did bring the United States into the war. Meanwhile, German civilians and soldiers had become war-weary and radicalised by the Russian Revolution and this failed, and by October the armies were in retreat, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, Bulgaria had surrendered and the German people had lost faith in their political system. The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution as the Emperor and all the ruling monarchs abdicated, and a republic took over. The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848, called Pan-Germanism, to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarcks pragmatic Realpolitik. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany, the war resulted in the Confederation being partially replaced by a North German Confederation in 1867, comprising the 22 states north of the Main. The new constitution and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871, during the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The second German Constitution was adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, the political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage, however, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas

18.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’

19.
Kicker (sports magazine)
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Kicker Sportmagazin is Germanys leading sports magazine and is focused primarily on football. The magazine was founded in 1920 by German football pioneer Walther Bensemann and is published twice a week, usually Monday and Thursday, the Monday edition sells an average of 240,000 copies, while the Thursday edition has an average circulation of about 220,000 copies. The magazine also publishes a yearbook, the kicker Almanach and it was first published from 1937 to 1942, and then continuously from 1959 to date. The magazine kicker first appeared in July 1920 in Konstanz, Germany, the magazine headquarters was originally in Stuttgart but moved to Nürnberg in 1926. During World War II, the merged with the publication Fußball. After the war, the magazine was published by the newly incorporated Olympia-Verlag publishing company. Former chief editor Friedebert Becker again began publishing kicker in 1951, in 1966, kicker was sold to Axel Springer AG. In 1968, Olympia-Verlag in Nuremberg acquired kicker and merged it with Sportmagazin, the first issue of the newly founded kicker-sportmagazin was released on 7 October 1968. Beside the two publications, kicker provides a digital edition since 2012. The online version of kicker. de offers a live ticker for over 80 different international leagues. A mobile version of kicker. de can be found among others in the portal of T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2. In addition, the magazine has three apps in the iTunes store. The modern version of kicker covers a number of sporting competitions and events, including, kicker annually awards the most prolific scorer of the Bundesliga with the kicker Torjägerkanone award. It is equivalent to the Pichichi Trophy in Spanish football

20.
German football championship
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The German football champions are the annual winners of the highest association football competition in Germany. The history of the German football championship is complex and reflects the turbulent history of the country through the course of the 20th century. Before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, the format was based on a knockout competition. Since 1963, the finisher in the Bundesliga has been recognized as the national champion. Championship play was suspended twice, from 1915 to 1919 due to World War I, Following World War II, Germany was occupied by the victorious Allies and two German football competitions emerged when the country was divided as a result. Following the reunification of the country in 1990, the two football competitions were merged and a single national championship was restored. Bayern Munich hold the record for the most championships with 24, all, Dynamo Berlin claimed 10 titles in the former East Germany, winning these championships in consecutive seasons. The history of the German football championship is complex and reflects the turbulent history of the country through the course of the 20th century. Before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, the format was based on a knockout competition. Since 1963, the finisher in the Bundesliga has been recognized as the national champion. Championship play was suspended twice, from 1915 to 1919 due to World War I, Following World War II, Germany was occupied by the victorious Allies and two German football competitions emerged when the country was divided as a result. Following the reunification of the country in 1990, the two football competitions were merged and a single national championship was restored. Bayern Munich hold the record for the most championships with 26, all, Dynamo Berlin claimed 10 titles in the former East Germany, winning these championships in consecutive seasons. The new English game of football quickly caught on in late 19th-century Germany, the earliest attempt at organizing some form of national championship came in 1894 when city champions Viktoria 89 Berlin invited FC Hanau 93 to play a challenge match. The Hanauers were unable to afford the cost of the trip, in 2007, the 1894 final was replayed and Viktoria were crowned the official 1894 champions. The formation of the DFB helped establish for the first time a clear divide between association football and its close cousin, to qualify for the German championship finals, a club had to win one of the regional championships, which, in some cases, predate the national one. The two strongest regions, South and West were also allowed to send their third-placed team and this system of regional championships was abolished in 1933 by the Nazis and superseded by the Gauliga system. Key Under the Nazis, German sports competitions were consolidated for political reasons, clubs whose leanings were unpalatable to the regime as leftist or faith-based were either banned or their memberships dispersed through forced mergers with other ideologically acceptable clubs